Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron Will Be All Work And All Play

To say that Schoolboy Q’s major-label debut, Oxymoron, is one of the year’s most anticipated hip-hop albums is an understatement.

Ever since Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate Kendrick Lamar broke through to the big leagues with his critically acclaimed debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, the pressure’s been on for the left coast wordsmith — most known for his idiosyncratic antics, inventive wordplay and bucket hats — to step up to the plate and hit another homerun for the Black Hippy collective.

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“It’ll probably be out in a few months,” Schoolboy Q told MTV News of his upcoming LP. “We gon’ get these singles right, get ’em together and place everything in order. Then we gon’ get it crackin’ from there. I haven’t leaked a record yet, so I don’t wanna say too much yet until I leak the record. But Oxymoron is definitely coming this year and we gon’ have some fun.”

In prepping for his new project on Interscope, the Habits & Contradictions MC decided to stay in his own backyard, musically speaking, working with TDE cohorts Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and K.Dot, as well as other artists and producers that he’s grown accustomed to collaborating with thus far.

“I worked with Pharrell on the album, I worked with Kendrick on the album, you know, like the homies, A$AP Rocky, Danny Brown,” said the rapper born Quincy Matthew Hanley. “I just kept it real in house with my homies. This my first album; it’s real special to me. I don’t wanna be messing with this dude, with this dude, this dude. It’s all in house, it’s the same Q. Like the fans, I’mma give ’em what they want.”

As a lyrical purist and student of intricate flows, the “Hands on the Wheel” spitter, who counts Nas as his favorite rapper, proudly carries the sonic torch for lyricism in hip-hop.

“We caught that era in the ’90s where people was rapping like Jay, Big Pun, Big L, Pac, Biggie, we was there in that era, so we like heard a lot of that stuff,” Q said. “We just studied the game. Like, I’m 26 years old — I can’t be out there rapping no weak stuff. I gotta go out there and be serious. You gotta paint that picture, you gotta see the music. We actually see the music like paintings and pictures, like for real, not just saying that. When a beat come on, it’s like a color in your head and it’s like a movie or some sh–, a camera just guiding you through what you need to say. That’s just how it is.”